Factory FM radio replacement

What can I get to replace the factory AM/FM radio-cassette player in my XJ? I want a CD player. The placement of the radio is such that a "normal" sized Alpine type CD player/radio won't fit. Does Jeep make a factory unit?

viperbaron said:

What can I get to replace the factory AM/FM radio-cassette player in my XJ? I want a CD player. The placement of the radio is such that a "normal" sized Alpine type CD player/radio won't fit. Does Jeep make a factory unit?

Click to expand...

funny.....MY alpine fit just fine.

Jeep didn't offer a cd player unless your rig is 97 up.

Fear not young one!

Yes, you could buy a Jeep/Chrysler one.. but it would be both expensive and a poor purchase.

Option 1:

Next time you are looking at the rack of stereos in the store or wherever, look slightly to the left, maybe right I don't know which store you're in, and you'll see some fancy $30 pieces of plastic and some plastic connectors with wires hanging out.

One of the fancy pieces of plastic will fit your Jeep and take up all the extra space left by the smaller radio. Buy it.

Your next purchase will be one of the plastic connectors with the wire hanging out of it. One of them will also fit your Jeep. Buy one.

Go home, bust out the soldering gun and in about an hour you'll have a fancy new radio.

Option 2:

Go to whatever store you like, grab a sales guy/girl, point at the radio you like the most and tell him to put it in your Jeep. It'll cost you about $130 or so and you'll be happy.

Young one? Been a long time since I've been acused of that.
I'll have to take a pic of what I'm talking about. My XJ is a 98.
The radio is in this big square area right in the middle. "Most" radios have a rectangular slot to fit into.
Keep 'em comming.

viperbaron said:

Young one? Been a long time since I've been acused of that.
I'll have to take a pic of what I'm talking about. My XJ is a 98.
The radio is in this big square area right in the middle. "Most" radios have a rectangular slot to fit into.
Keep 'em comming.

Click to expand...

The adaptors from any Radio Shack store replaces the big square opening to the size for a standard DIN size radio. You don't need to take a picture.

red91inWA said:

funny.....MY alpine fit just fine.

Jeep didn't offer a cd player unless your rig is 97 up.

Click to expand...

You're wrong!! Jeep did make an AM/FM/CD as an accessory to fit a pre-97 Cherokee. Used to have the part # but can look it up tomorrow at work.

The DIN referrs to the electrical connector. Right???
I'm talking the physical size of the radio electonics unit itself.
The thing with the knobs & kights.

viperbaron said:

The DIN referrs to the electrical connector. Right???
I'm talking the physical size of the radio electonics unit itself.
The thing with the knobs & kights.

Click to expand...

Both, But I 'm refiring to the size of the Unit, the hole in the dash. You just need a DIN wiring adapter and a DIN mounting adaptor.

OK, I'll have to hunt one down tomorrow. Thankx.

DIN is the standard chassis size used for most autosound applications.

Unfortunately, automakers took a good thing and found a way to screw it up - there are now three sizes.

DIN - the standard (rectangular) shape used in probably 85% of vehicles. What you ain't got, but can have with an adapter.

DIN-and-a-half, or 1-1/2-DIN - this is the odd size in the middle. As you've probably guess before you finished reading this, this is 1.5 times the height of the regular DIN chassis - but the same width. If you don't want to use an adapter, this is what you need - it's pretty much a ChryCo staple (and some Japanese imports use it as well.)

Double-DIN - this is (I'm sure you're getting there...) exactly twice the height of the DIN - but the same width. I've seen this with various "high-end" applications, and some luxury vehicles that integrate a number of functions into the head unit.

Start Here - you didn't mention if you had Infinity, Non-Infinity 2-speaker, Non-Infinity 4-speaker (a quick look at the head unit should tell you if it's an Infinity or not. Check the front doors and the rear hatch area for speakers. It is also possible that the rear speakers are mounted in an overhead "sound bar" rather than in the hatch.) If you get stuck, just go to crutchfield.com and follow the lines to get where you want.

The electrical connection is non-standard - everyone uses their own. Another advantage to dealing with a major house - they have all the electrical adapters as well. You will take the harness for the head unit (designed to crimp into the OEMR wiring and plug into the head unit) and the adapter harness (designed to plug into the OEM wiring and crimp to whatever you're connecting) and use the two to make an adapter that will go from the head unit to the OEM wiring.

I like to use "bullet plugs" or "spade plugs" when I do this, as it allows me to change the head unit later without having to get a new harness.

You have the option of getting a "DIN to DIN-and-a-half" adapter and using a standard DIN head unit, or getting a DIN-and-a-half head unit and dropping it right in. Once you see how to get in there, it's not too hard.

I can't tell you how to tear into the dashpanel itself offhand, since I don't have an XJ newer than 1989. However, if you get stuck, I do have a 1997FSM somewhere, and that should work for your 98.

Good luck!

5-90

OKYDOKY
I can handle that.
Wish I could mount one of those nice in-dash video units, but the A/C vents would be blocked.
Thanks guys for all the great info!

Go look at www.crutchfield.com, they will have what you are looking for. We just put a Clarion DB455MC in my sons 97TJ which has the same radio as yours. It has some nice features including the ability to store 2 cd's in memory for instant playback. Or you can look for one with AUX input connectors that will allow you to connect an Ipod or other external player. The JVC Arsenal KD-AR560 has front panel aux inputs, around $199, they also have all the adapters to fit your needs. Or get the model numbers and use the net to search for a better price, crutchfield is just a handy one stop place with alot of good info and pics.

Pioneer makes a din and a half as well that used to be pretty good quality last I checked.

Edit: Another good thing about Crutchfield is that they supply all the adapters you'll need for free along with detailed installation instructions. Thats $30-40 worth of free stuff right there.

Atl XJ said:

Pioneer makes a din and a half as well that used to be pretty good quality last I checked.

Edit: Another good thing about Crutchfield is that they supply all the adapters you'll need for free along with detailed installation instructions. Thats $30-40 worth of free stuff right there.

Click to expand...

Even the local audio installation place has most all the adapters. They had 3 in-stock for my Cherokee.

I found this page most helpful. They even have specific instructions for 97-99 Cherokees. Not sure how much difference there would be for other years.
http://www.installdr.com/

viperbaron said:

The DIN referrs to the electrical connector. Right???
I'm talking the physical size of the radio electonics unit itself.
The thing with the knobs & kights.

Click to expand...

No, it also refers to the physical size of the radio. The pre-97 XJ use a radio that is considered to be "DIN" or "single-DIN" size. The 97+ XJs use what it referred to as a 1-1/2-DIN size radio chassis.

viperbaron said:

What can I get to replace the factory AM/FM radio-cassette player in my XJ? I want a CD player. The placement of the radio is such that a "normal" sized Alpine type CD player/radio won't fit. Does Jeep make a factory unit?

Click to expand...

Thought about it this morning and found the (2) part numbers of a factory am/fm/cd that would fit your vehicle. There are VERY RARE.

82300392 was for a wrangler but will fit the cherokee. It also had a "woo-hoo" pull out chassis 93-93YJ

82300393 was for a cherokee 89-94XJ

Good luck in finding them. If you do, let me know. If you find 2, don't break the secong one off in me.

Bill

Does the 82300393 have a clock?

Wait you're saying a single din stereo won't fit in a 97+ xj? I rarely ever see an xj with a stock stereo. Everyone else figured it out lol

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